In Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, the motif of castration is used to exemplify the fact that women in a position of power have the capacity to emasculate even the most masculine of men, thus contradicting modern societal issues relating to sexism. Kesey references castration to demonstrate emasculation of the male patients. McMurphy talks to Harding about the idea behind group meetings, and they eventually arrive at the topic of Nurse ... hierarchy. This ideology is still prevalent today. However, the motif in the novel of a woman emasculating a man via figurative castratio...

• Word Count: 945
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate